New Ruling: Ofc. Porter Must Testify Against 5 Officers In Gray Case
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Maryland's highest court has ruled that Baltimore City police officer William Porter must testify in the trials of five fellow officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray.
Investigator Mike Hellgren breaks down the court's ruling and what it means.
Officer William Porter, the first officer to go on trial in the death of Freddie Gray, will be forced to testify against all of his fellow officers. The major ruling by Maryland's highest court is a lifesaver for prosecutors and lifts a stay on the proceedings, meaning the remaining trials can now move forward.
Lawyer Andy Levy is an expert on the high court.
"It's definitely not a body blow to Officer Porter. Would he have preferred not to be compelled to testify? Absolutely," Levy said.
Porter's lawyers argued last week that he wasn't given full immunity from further prosecution and worried prosecutors---who had already called him a liar on the stand---would try to charge him with perjury and ruin his chance at a fair re-trial.
"They want to have their cake and they want to eat it, too," said Porter's lawyer, Gary Proctor.
But prosecutors argued they can call anyone they like to the stand and that they gave Porter a limited immunity, promising not to use his testimony against him.
"Right now, the only thing would be to get the US Supreme Court to hear the case," Levy said. "That's unlikely."
Prosecutors took a gamble angering Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams, who will ultimately try all of the cases, when they argued Porter should be forced to testify in every case---not just against van driver Officer Caesar Goodson, Jr. and supervisor Alicia White, as they originally said.
Prosecutors say Porter's testimony is necessary to secure convictions in the highest-profile case in Baltimore in decades.
"We're going to wait until Porter's retrial to know whether they've won this battle but lost the war against Officer Porter," Levy said.
Officer Porter's first trial ended in a mistrial but prosecutors will re-try him. It remains to be seen the order of the new trials and when they will begin. Lt. Brian Rice's trial is set for April 13 and Officer Porter's trial is set for June. The other trial dates have not been set, and these two dates could also change if prosecutors ask for the trials to be re-ordered.
